(Washington, DC): -- Congressman Michael R. McNulty (D-Green Island) has announced that the Fiscal Year 2006 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations bill, approved tonight in the House of Representatives, includes more than $15 million in funding for seven important Capital Region projects.

The Senate must now pass the bill before it is sent to the White House for the President's review. The projects included in the bill, and proposed funding levels, are:

$4 million for the Smart Machines Platform Initiative at Benét Labs in Watervliet

The competition and innovation demands of today’s global economy have exposed weaknesses in the American manufacturing sector. In order to meet 21^st century demands, the next generation of machine technology must not only be capable of executing instructions, but also be capable of creating instructions and integrating them, in real-time, into manufacturing processes. The Smart Machine Platform is designed to develop these systems.

Benét Laboratories, the Army’s leader in cannon tube technology and sole fabricator of these vital components, is an outstanding venue for developing and demonstrating these manufacturing capabilities. Development of newer generations of lighter, faster weaponry will require a rapid prototyping capability to produce components for evaluation and testing. At Benét, the first ‘core’ platform of future intelligent (smart) manufacturing capability will be developed, and the Smart Machines Platform Initiative will take a necessary first step toward restoring the technological superiority of the American machine tool and related industries.

$3 million to SuperPower, Inc. in Schenectady for superconducting generators for the U.S. Navy

SuperPower and a partner company will use this funding to complete the design and research for High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) generators, which will generate electric power on the Navy’s envisioned future class of all-electric surface ships and submarines. HTS generators can produce the equivalent amount of electrical power as conventional generators while requiring drastically smaller size and weight.

$2.5 million for the Arsenal Support Program Initiative at the Watervliet Arsenal

Arsenal Support Program Initiative (ASPI) funding is critical to maintain the viability of the Army manufacturing arsenals and the unique capability of the Watervliet Arsenal in supporting the national security interests of the United States. The funds are used by the Arsenal to market its unused space and improve the facility's ability to generate greater workload and attract new businesses to the Arsenal Partnership.

$2 million for an advanced radar system for the 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton Air National Guard (ANG) Base in Glenville

The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) for LC-130 aircraft based at the Stratton ANG Base will provide the flight crews of the 109th Airlift Wing with the capability to detect hidden crevasses in the snow at potential landing sites on the polar icecaps. This will significantly decrease risk and increase safety on the 109th's polar missions.

$2 million to Plug Power in Latham for its PEM Hydrogen Fuel Cell Project

Plug Power of Albany, one of the nation's leading designers and developers of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems, will use this funding for a DoD demonstration project. The project would place Plug’s on-site fuel cell electricity generation systems at mission critical facilities on various military installations nationwide. These PEM fuel cell systems save space, improve reliability and cost less than previously available systems without diminishing facility or energy security in any way. Data provided by these demonstrations will be invaluable in mass-producing commercial fuel cell products for power generation.

$1 million to MTI MicroFuel Cells in Latham for its mobile fuel-cell battery program

MTI Micro plans to continue its work to develop a hybrid advanced solider power (HASP) system for the U.S. Army. The battery-fuel cell hybrid system is designed to substantially increase mission duration and reduce weight carried by soldiers. This lightweight, compact, single power source – targeted to provide 30 hours of continuous operation on a single charge – will be designed to power multiple electronic devices carried by the soldier and would eliminate the need to carry multiple battery types and the repeated mission disruption to swap out batteries.

$750,000 to New Paradigm Technologies of Niskayuna to develop a chemical & biological threat detection system at the Watervliet Arsenal Innovation Center

New Paradigm Technologies, building on research on explosives identification performed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and other academic institutions, will use this funding to develop the “Stand Off Threat Detections System,” to be used by special operations forces to positively identify chemical and biological agents, specific explosives, narcotics and weapons at distances greater than thirty feet.

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